Oasis Naan

I really had no intention of making naan, but it was suggested for my 30 Before 30 list by a reader, so I thought, why not? And I’m glad I did. What I’m not glad I did (or didn’t do) was not read the entire post before I made her recipe. I followed the recipe as written, and when I started typing up this post, I read through what she actually said. Guess what she said? She put cinnamon and sugar on one of the batches! What? That sounds amazing. But, I suppose they’ll be time to try that in the future. I was satisfied with what I made. The grass is always greener…

I’ve never had traditional naan, but if I had to guess, this is probably what it supposed to taste like. At least I sure hope so, because it was pretty delicious! As I was already planning to make sourdough this weekend, I didn’t think I needed a lot more carbs in the house, so I cut the original recipe in half. The recipe suggested chives and caraway seeds, but I didn’t have any, so I used only cumin. I really liked the smokeyness that the cumin brought to the naan. Now if I had only made some sort of Indian cuisine to eat this with. I didn’t. Something else to add to my list of “to-dos” I guess. I did cut them in half and stuffed them, like a pita pocket, with spinach and chicken, topped with a little yogurt-dill dressing. They were phenomenal!

1. Stir water and yeast together in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook. With the mixer turned on, add 1 1/2 cups flour. Beat for one minute, scraping flour from sides if necessary. Sprinkle salt over the mixture, and begin adding remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time until it forms a stiff dough. You may not need to use all the flour. Continue to knead the dough in the mixer, about 5 minutes.

2. Transfer dough to lightly oiled bowl, turning once to completely coat the dough in oil. Cover with damp towel and let rest at room temperature until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours.

3. Place baking stone in oven on center rack. Preheat to 500 degrees. Set aside a bakers peel or a baking sheet lightly dusted with flour. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into four equal parts. Roll each into a ball and flatten with palms. Roll each piece out to 1/4-inch thick, about 5-6 inches across. Sprinkle each with water, salt and cumin. Pierce each round several times with the tines of a fork.

About Me

Success and fails, I'm documenting my cooking and baking adventures. I enjoy making healthy, exciting, and generally simple food, although I may stray from time to time. I'm also a beginner brewer, so I'll share my beer triumphs and tribulations as well.